Archive for the ‘Art of the Car Concours’ tag

June was a good month for the Mullin Automotive Museum; not only were five Figoni et Falaschi-bodied cars from its collection invited by Lord March to participate in the 2015 Goodwood Festival of Speed’s Cartier Style et Luxe Concours, a 1937 Talbot-Lago T150-C-S “Goutte d’Eau” (Teardrop) received Best of Show honors there. Simultaneously, the museum’s 1938 Delahaye Type 145, known as the “Million Franc Challenge Car,” earned the Chairman’s Award at the Art of the Car Concours in Kansas City.

The 1937 Talbot-Lago T150-C-S was one of 14 such models bodied by Boulogne-sur-Seine coachbuilder Figoni et Falaschi. Chassis 90106 was sold new to “Bentley Boy” Woolf Barnato, whose investment in the British automaker would later earn him the title of chairman. Powered by a 4.0-liter six-cylinder rated at 140 horsepower and fitted with an aluminum alloy body, the Talbot-Lago’s performance would have been noteworthy for the day, and it’s believed that this car was raced in-period at the 24-hours Le Mans.

Following Barnardo’s ownership, the Talbot-Lago remained in the U.K. for two decades before being purchased by Otto Zipper in the 1960s. The coupe was then imported into the United States, where it was temporarily displayed at the Briggs Cunningham Automotive Museum in Costa Mesa, California. The 1980s saw the Talbot-Lago pass through a string of owners in relatively short order, but it was collector Pat Hart that began an ambitious multi-year restoration of the car.

Hart would sell the car to Peter Mullin in 1985, before the work was finished, and Mullin would complete the restoration to a no-expense-spared standard. Rare in its own right (though 13 of the 14 Figoni et Falaschi Teardrop Coupes are said to survive today), this particular example is equipped with a fold-out windscreen, a sunroof and a competition-style exhaust header, perhaps further evidence of a racing past. Described by Mullin as, “the most gorgeous car ever designed,” the judges at the Cartier Style et Luxe Concours were clearly inclined to agree.

1937 Delahaye Type 145. Photos courtesy Art of the Car Concours.

A continent away, the Mullin’s historically significant Delahaye Type 145 received the Chairman’s Award at the Art of the Car Concours in Kansas City, Missouri. One of four such cars built for racing team owner Lucy Schell, the Delahaye was constructed with a singular purpose – to claim the million-franc prize offered by the French government in 1937 for a new 200 kilometer distance record. The existing record had been set by Louis Chiron in 1934, driving an Alfa Romeo, and changes by the Automobile Club of France to the competition rules for 1937 permitted the use of engines as large as 4.5 liters.

This played to the strengths of the Delahaye Type 145, and with legendary driver René Dreyfus behind the wheel, chassis 48771 covered the 200 kilometers in 1 hour, 29 minutes, 49.5 seconds, at an average speed of 91.3 MPH. A new record had been set at the Autodrome de Montlhery, and the Million-Franc Challenge car was subsequently returned to the factory.

Hidden during the war years, the Delahaye’s 225-horsepower, 4.5-liter V-12 engine (which boasted a magnesium block) was later pulled and sold to a trade school. The car’s alloy body, which had been sculpted by engineers without benefit of a wind tunnel, had been lost to time, and the rebodied record car lived a life of anonymity until tracked down by Mullin in 1987. After acquiring the chassis, Mullin went to great lengths to find the car’s original V-12 engine, and both were reunited during a restoration process that also required the recreation of the car’s competition alloy body.

More than 180 vintage cars, trucks and motorcycles will converge on the campus of the Kansas City Art Institute this Sunday, June 26, for the fifth annual Art of the Car Concours, an event that draws exceptional vehicles from collectors in eight Midwestern states. The event takes place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Marshall Miller, the Kansas City attorney and vintage car aficionado who founded and serves as chairman of the event, said that the concours has grown to become the largest concours focusing on original vehicles in the Midwest. “There is no similar event in Chicago, Minneapolis, Denver, St. Louis or Dallas. As a result, exhibitors, sponsors and visitors from around the country will be traveling to Kansas City for the Concours. This year we have many new vehicles that will delight our guests. We especially encourage multi-generations of families to attend, as that is how I started my interest.”

Spectators can expect to see cars that have appeared at such prestigious concours as Pebble Beach and Amelia Island, as well as cars from private collections that have never been shown before.

The Art of the Car Concours succeeds by breaking with the usual way of doing things. For instance, there is no judging, and there are no vehicle classes. Instead, the top five finishers in the “People’s Choice” balloting will receive trophies created by a KCAI alumna, while other trophies will be awarded by the event’s corporate sponsors, the president of KCAI and Miller, the chairman. These special trophies will be for such categories as “best color” and “car we’d most like to insure.” “The intention is to provide a wide range of very high-quality, original, vintage vehicles in an eclectic, informal setting, without the pressure of traditional Concours events,” Miller said.

Tickets may be purchased for $12 at the Concours website, or for $15 at the gate on the day of the event. Children 10 years old and younger, as well as active duty military (with identification), will be admitted without charge. For those who’d like to watch the cars roll onto the field, early-bird tickets are available, too.

The Kansas City Art Institute is located at 4415 Warwick Boulevard in Kansas City.